Members of the Sons of the Republic of Texas fire the ceremonial cannon.

Members of the Sons of the Republic of Texas fire the ceremonial cannon.

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The Sam Houston with one of the Coast Guard's fire vessels behind it.

The Sam Houston with one of the Coast Guard's fire vessels behind it.

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Policy makers gather to celebrate Ship Channel’s 100th anniversary

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The Houston Ship Channel (HSC) was first dedicated on Nov. 10, 1914 with a salute from President Woodrow Wilson’s cannon. Once again, with cannon fire provided by the Sons of the Republic of Texas, policy makers rededicated Houston’s hub for trade exactly 100 years later.

Chairman of the Port of Houston Authority Janiece Longoria acted as Master of Ceremonies and a welcome was given by “Promote Houston Ship Channel 2014” Chairman H. Thomas Kornegay.

“This is a great day,” Longoria said. “We gather to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the opening of the Houston Ship Channel that happened on the morning of Nov. 10, 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson fired a cannon by remote control from his office in Washington.

“We all know that the HSC is a remarkable achievement that came into being from great visionaries that refused to be stopped by any obstacle. Although the distance of 52 miles seemed extreme and the cost was high by any measure at that time, neither distance nor cost prevented this vision from coming to fruition.

“We now host the largest petrochemical complex in the nation and the second largest in the world. Houston is the premiere metropolitan exporting region in the nation, and Texas has been the leading state for exports for over a decade,” Longoria added.

"The Channel has given us a lot to be proud of," said Congressman Gene Green. "I've never seen development and prosperity in Houston like there is today, and the ship channel has a lot to do with that.

By the end of 2015, we'll see some the largest ships ever constructed navigating the Houston Ship Channel. To maximize efficiency, productivity, and safety, we need to widen and deepen the ship channel, and that requires dredging and funding.”

Jackson Lee addressed the audience about safety and security at the Port of Houston.

“The work that we do at the Homeland Security Committee is we’re eyeing constantly attractive targets, and the Houston Port represents one. The port’s waterways are part of a huge economic engine moving about $700 million in merchandise. The Port of Houston has approximately 100 steam ship lines offering services that link Houston with 1,053 ports and growing in 2,003 countries. It is a perfect port to assess security issues,” Jackson Lee said. “We fight for grants to fund our Coast Guard with rescue boats and helicopters so they can be the front line resources for defending this very powerful port. We want to be able to acknowledge the comings and goings of the many longshoremen, truckers, merchant marines, rail and vessel crew members that have come back and forth. The TWIC [Transportation Worker Identification Card] card has been some of the front line that was responded to the need of making sure we know who’s here to do good and who may be here to do harm.”

“I am proud to be an American and I know you are, too,” Sen. Al Green said. “We should celebrate the diversity of our city. That diversity extends beyond those that serve on the board to those that serve in our military because the HSC has done its best to employ our veterans who are returning from war; our veterans that need jobs.”

Green asked all veterans in attendance to stand and be recognized.

Judge Emmett focused his comments on the importance of global commerce and its dependence on water.

“Our port is the reason that Houston and Harris County and, frankly, the State of Texas are as great as they are. The thing we’re celebrating today is not a 100-year history; we’re not looking at some plaque. We’re looking at what continues to be the economic engine for the whole region. We’re perfectly positioned to go forward for the next 100 years,” he said.

Mayor Parker said, “I want us to remember that [the Port of Houston] is part of an interconnected web of commerce that covers the entire United States. Ultimately what the Port of Houston does for us in this region is it allows us to build our lives. We are here to celebrate 100 years of history; but we are also here to affirm the next 100 years of our future.”

Aguiar reiterated the importance of the Houston Ship Channel to the future of the oil and gas industry. “Texas is the largest U.S. gas producer, largest chemical producer and largest exporter of refined products. Texas is also the largest oil-producing state, and if we were a country, we would rank number eight in the world in oil production. So it's not surprising at all that Texas leads the country in job creation.”

Holmes wrapped up the presentation with some reflections about the HSC. “I was around in the 70’s when we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the opening of the deep water port,” he said. “Houston is the energy capital of the world…because of the vision of our forefathers that created that created the deep water channel.”

Katherine Lee Stacy, the great, great granddaughter of the woman who originally christened the channel in 1914, re-christened it by throwing a wreath made of white roses overboard from the tour boat named “Sam Houston.” With that, the cannons fired, promising another great century of prosperity for the Houston Ship Channel.

For more information about the Port of Houston, visit PortOfHouston.com.